the goan I network
VASCO
Several fruit and vegetable vendors of the Vasco market shut down their shops in protest on Monday morning, alleging harassment by Mormugao Municipal Council (MMC) officials on a daily basis.
The aggrieved vendors also staged a protest rally and further threatened to shut down their shops permanently and paralyse daily supply of fruits and vegetables if the MMC did not resolve the situation.
Claiming that the present market was in a deplorable condition despite fees and taxes being paid regularly to the MMC, the vendors also demanded a dedicated proper market facility to sell fruits and vegetables.
With tensions running high, a Vasco police team led by PI Nolasco Raposo rushed to the site and dispersed the angry vendors.
A delegation of vendors later met MMC Chief Officer Agnelo Fernandes, who refuted the allegations and instructed the vendors not to encroach on roads and streets outside their stalls in the market area.
Fernandes also informed that the municipal inspectors were doing their job as per law and instructed the vendors to cooperate with MMC as they had also received complains from the traffic cell that vehicles would stop on the roadside to buy vegetables and fruits, posing a danger to others.
After an hour-long interaction, the vendors finally decided to open the market and also meet the traffic department to request them to penalise motorists parked outside the stalls instead of acting against the vendors.
According to sources, the clash began after MMC inspectors began asking vendors to remove the huge umbrellas put by them and also began removing trays of produce kept outside the stalls.
The vendors got together in protest and alleged that MMC officials had been harassing them on a daily basis and were also attaching their goods. The vendors claimed that the MMC had not acted on vendors selling fruits and vegetables outside the Vasco fish market and had only targeted vendors of the vegetable market.
Speaking to the media, a market vendor Prashant Naik claimed it was the duty of the traffic police to penalise motorists parking outside a roadside stall. “Is this our fault? Neither there is traffic police nor home guards near the market to deter vehicles from parking on the road outside the market and as such we cannot be blamed for other motorists facing inconvenience due to parked cars.”
“We will meet the Traffic PI. Why should vendors face the brunt for duties not performed by the traffic police?”
No harassment, action as per
directives, says CO Agnelo Ferns
VASCO: Rejecting any harassment to the vendors, MMC Chief Officer Agnelo Fernandes on Monday said the MMC was acting as per law and directives from the authorities.
“Several activists had also alleged and posted on social media that the MMC was not acting on encroachments and was colluding with the vendors.”
“The vendors are obstructing public pathways and we have requested them several times to refrain from moving out of the designated areas, which they have not followed.”
“The market inspectors are acting as per my directives and I am acting as per law and directives of the High Court and higher ups.” “Encroachments on public footpaths cannot be permitted. If there is harassment, they can bring it to my notice. There have been instances where one legal handcart operates at three different locations and this cannot be allowed,” Fernandes added.
